1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which prints based on registered printing medium information, an information processing method in the image forming apparatus, and a storage medium storing a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
One conventional method registers paper of the operator's choice by designating a name, grammage, surface property, color, shape, and the like in order to control an image forming apparatus and image processing coefficients. As a method of controlling an image forming apparatus using information about paper, for example, a paper source in which paper of a designated paper size is set is automatically selected, executable processes such as two-sided printing and finishing are determined, and a toner fixing method corresponding to the paper type is determined.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-217131 discloses a technique in which a print controller manages paper the operator wants to use, together with information including the name, size, grammage, surface property, color, and profile. According to this technique, paper selected by the operator is associated with a paper source in an image forming apparatus. When the operator designates the paper in print job designation, the paper can be fed from the associated paper source. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-154913 discloses a technique of setting information read from a medium sensor as attribute information, and automatically registering paper information. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-268502 discloses a technique of attaching an ID code to a paper package and setting it in a paper cassette, thereby automatically registering paper information.
However, the conventional techniques cannot feed paper of the operator's choice unless he registers paper for use in a job in advance in the image forming apparatus before inputting the job. When a job which designates unregistered paper is input, it is canceled or output by rounding the paper to default paper or the like. To obtain a product the operator wants, the job needs to be input again. For higher printing efficiency, it is important to start print processing by minimum procedures. However, in an environment where various kinds of sheets are used, paper registration work before the start of a job especially takes time, decreasing the printing efficiency.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-154913, the user needs to set information which cannot be acquired from the medium sensor, and register paper information. More specifically, information acquirable from the medium sensor is limited, and the user always needs to set attribute information. In addition, this method cannot be executed in a printing apparatus having no medium sensor. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-268502, paper information can be automatically registered by setting information in an ID code. However, the ID code needs to be attached to a paper package sold by a paper manufacturer. Also, a structure for reading paper information from the ID code is required.